Resources
Newsletter - June 2nd 2024
Reducing costs for disabled people
Disability Rights UK states that nearly half of everyone in poverty is either a disabled person or lives with a disabled person. Low-cost options are crucial for disabled people to access the arts whether as audience members or attending training and courses. Some options for providing this are:
-Pay What You Can ticketing. Here is an article from Battersea Arts Centre on why they use this ticketing model.
-Allowing a transfer of credits/refunds/online content if someone cannot attend. Cancelations and no shows can be a contentious subject but for people who are disabled, chronically ill, and/or neurodivergent, life can be unpredictable, and they may not book something if they know they will lose money if they need to cancel.
-Bursaries and Scholarships. These can provide a limited number of free or reduced places for people who otherwise would not be able to attend an opportunity. It is important that the application process is simple and doesn’t take a huge amount of extra effort as this can be exclusionary. Ensure applications can be sent in numerous different forms e.g. written, video, voice note etc.
Sources of funding for access support
This week I have been working with a venue on finding funding for a disability access and inclusion project. Their project involves disabled volunteers, and so I set out in search of sources of funding to aid disabled people to volunteer. I contacted NCVO (The National Council for VoluntaryOrganisations), and these are the resources they sent to me. If you are from outside the UK, I strongly recommend looking for local or national organisations that support organisations that have volunteers to find similar funding sources.
Budgeting for Chronic Violence
I am not a numbers person. I’m pretty sure I only passed my math coursework at school because I sat next to my best friend who was much better at it than I was. So, this week has been tough as I have been hashing out the budget for our Arts Council Project Grant application. Disability and access inclusion often get cut at the budget stage as they are seen as extras. They lose their space to essentials such hiring venues and paying the cast adequately.
This is one of the benefits of integrating creative accessibility into our show. It is so vital to the creative purpose of the show. There is no way it can get cut. Refined? Yes. Cut? Never. The budgeting stage has helped us to refine what areas of accessibility we want to focus on. Integrated audio description and inclusive interaction are the areas we are investing in. As I have said previously in this newsletter, this doesn’t mean we can’t keep access in mind in all our activities, in which venues we work with, when planning our project timeline etc.
When you prioritise accessibility and ringfence that budget, you really consider everything else you include. Is it necessary? Are there any things you pay for out of tradition or precedent that don’t really need to be there? For Chronic Violence, I repeatedly had to remind myself that we are planning a research and development project. I would rather make sure we focus on understanding our creative idea than have enough rehearsal time to produce something perfect. This meant I could reduce some rehearsal costs and ensure that I could pay for us to have a workshop with the wonderful integrated audio description experts Quiplash.
Newsletter - May 23rd 2024
Why You Should Invest in Accessibility
A common reason given by organisations for not investing in disability access and inclusion is that it involves an unreasonable cost for a small number of people. The idea behind this is that it is worse to deprive the majority of key elements of a service, than to exclude a minority. For example, it would be better to put on classes once a month in a venue that is not accessible to disabled people, than to only put them on twice a year, but spend more money for a venue that is widely accessible. The key deciding factor in these decisions is often cost. Ifwe only put on two classes a year, we’re likely to go out of business.
I want to provide a few reasons to challenge this idea when you are considering investing in disability access and inclusion.
Firstly, it’s quite likely that when you make a decision like this, you feel bad about it. Decisions that exclude disabled people in the name of helping a service survive can feel like a ‘necessary evil’ when we make them. Often, I come across a high amount of defensiveness when I talk to people who know they have made decisions like this in the past. There can be avoidance around thinking about it. That’s because we know some of the harm that is causes, that it goes against our instincts, that exclusion is wrong.
Secondly, it’s technically against the law. As AbilityNet notes when talking about poor compliance around website accessibility by public sector organisations, the reason why the Equality Act 2010 doesn’t lead to more accessibility in organisations is because it isn’t very well enforced. Disabled people often don’t have the money, support, or resilience to take legal action against organisations whilst trying to survive in society.
Finally, it is based on the idea that spending money to make your services accessible is a bad business decision. It is likely that all your customers will in some way benefit from increased accessibility. A focus on access and inclusion allows people to consider what they need to have an enjoyable experience and gives permission for flexibility and changes to meet these needs. In the long term, a sincere commitment to access and inclusion can enhance your organisation's reputation, widen your potential audience, and increase your creativity and innovation.
With all this in mind the question shouldn’t be if you should invest in disability access and inclusion, but how to start in a way that is realistic and fits withyour business purposes.
Brief Access Consultation
The Brighton Fringe is currently happening where I live and I have loved going to see shows and chatting with the creators. This is one way in which I aim to help artists find an affordable starting point for increasing the accessibility of their work. I focus on things that are in the control of the artist and fit with the purpose and themes of their work. If you would like to chat about how to start your accessibility work as an artist or creator, book a chat!
Newsletter - 9th May 2024
Who’s in your organisation?
How do you deal with people who are ‘difficult’ in your organisation?
Difficult can mean a lot of things. Previously I’ve been called difficult for making complaints around access issues at a venue, because I’ve missed multiple rehearsals for a show, because I’ve become overly emotional at what seems like a small issue. I’ve seen others labelled difficult because they couldn’t integrate socially, because they struggled with processing instructions, because they have accidentally said something inappropriate.
Many social norms and beliefs about acceptable behaviour, are based on unconsious ableism. Every one of these examples of ‘difficult’ behaviour, can be linked with chronic illness, disability, and neurodivergence. When they are not addressed with clear communication and compassion, disabled people end up excluded.
When you are running an organisation sometimes it can feel easier to let ‘difficult’ people decide your organisation isn’t for them, but consider some disability awareness training for your leadership and staff, to ensure they know how to handle challenging situations in an inclusive way that understands all perspectives.
Perfect Show For Rachel
This week I went to see Perfect Show for Rachel. Rachel directs the show live on stage. She is learning disabled and lives in a care home, and uses a large panel with over 50 buttons to communicate with the cast about what segment she wants them to perform next. At the start of the show, Rachel’s sister Flo explains to the audience that this show isn’t for them. The majority intellectually abled audience are used to theatre that is made with their wants and needs in mind. This show is for Rachel. It is about what she wants, when she wants it. Whether the audience enjoys the show or not is a by-product. I did enjoy the show - a lot. One of the things I loved was watching such a range of people on stage. Different ages, races, nationalities, disabilities, sizes. It was like nothing I’ve ever seen, and it was one of the most creative and joyful pieces of theatre I’ve ever experienced.
The importance of representation
Representation is important in creative accessibility. A starting point is auditing disabled representation within your organisation at every level. Over 20% of the UK population are disabled but this often isn’t reflected in arts organisations.
Disabled people are also much less likely to be in leadership positions. Creative accessibility is not just about building access into the creative elements of your work, it also means reflecting on the way your organisation runs and where there may be both practical and cultural barriers that stop disabled people being able to get involved in everything from admin and bid writing, to stage management.
A great place to start when considering change in your organisation is going to see work created by disabled-led theatre groups. As a disabled person in the arts, networking was crucial in finding practitioners I could learn from. Some of the wonderful companies I follow are Bird of Paradise Theatre Company, CRIPticarts, Graeae Theatre, TripleC, Little Cog, Access All Areas, and DeafinitelyTheatre. Many of these organisations have brilliant accessibility resources available on there websites. Though watching disabled-led work you can learn about some of the ways access has been built into shows, and you can find out about other amazing consultants and practitioners who could help you in the development of work.
Newsletter - May 2nd 2024
Supporting the Disabled Community
We can’t separate what happens in our organisations and in the arts, from the wider influence of society. It is currently a very difficult time for disabled people in the UK as the government and politicians make misleading statements about disability benefits. I personally find that hearing the stigma and stereotypes being spread reduces my emotional and cognitive capacity to take part in daily life. It is one of the barriers that impacts the ability of disabled people to take part in the arts.
An important part of access and inclusion work is supporting the disabled community tackle ableism in wider society. One way we can do this is to educate ourselves on wider issues, and spread awareness with those in our lives. It can be uncomfortable. It can feel overwhelming given the number of horrible events happening in the world right now. But if you are able, I encourage you to read some of the links below:
UN Report on UK disabled people’s human rights violations
Prime Minister is scapegoating Disabled People
The emotional impact of proposed PIP changes
Finding Our Focus
Originally when we decided to create a piece of theatre that focuses on disabled performers we felt a pressure to ensure that the show would be completely accessible for everyone. As an access and inclusion trainer and consultant, I was plagued with worries about being a hypocrite.
There are several reasons why we have had to narrow our focus in terms of creative accessibility for our new show Chronic Violence. Firstly the show’s development cannot start until we know who our cast and crew are, and we can communicate with them about their needs. Creative accessibility means that access is the responsibility of everyone in the show and it is important to us that we prioritise the access needs of our specific cast and crew.
Secondly, if we try to do everything we will end up doing nothing well. This is especially true given the limited budgets we work with in the arts. It is important to pay fairly for access and inclusion consultation and so finding a couple of areas you want to focus onfor that fit with the creative and practical aims of your show is crucial. This doesn’t mean that you can’t have a broad awareness of other access issues, or that you can’t focus on other areas in the further development of a show in the future.
These are important conversations that will need to be continued throughout the research and development of the show. Every organisation, and every show considering creative accessibility, may find their focus needs to be different. If you would like to speak to someone about working creative accessibility into a new show, please get in touch.
Newsletter - April 25th 2024
What’s Your WHY?
Yesterday I was able to attend the brilliant event Driving Change held at Roundhouse in London. Driving Change was a whole day of workshops, panels and networking for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) professionals working in the arts industry.
One point really struck me that I want to share. The wonderful Shonagh Reid from Spotlight Inclusion suggested that before a company starts any EDI project, they need to consider their ‘why’. At the start of all my training sessions I give my ‘why’, my reasons that working on disability access and inclusion is important. As an organisation and as an individual I encourage you to consider yours. To discuss it with your colleagues and leaders. To record it and display it somewhere where you will see it everyday. Your ‘why’ will affect the success and longevity of your efforts. It affects your motivation to push through when difficulties arise, your attitude when receiving feedback, and whether your efforts are perceived as tokenistic or genuine by the communities you are appealing to.
If you need hep with this process feel free to get in touch.
Respecting Our Needs
This year I am working on the research a development of a new show. Chronic Violence is a puppetry professional wrestling show that aims to make the most physical of physical theatre accessible. Our entire cast and crew will be disabled/chronically ill.
A key barrier for chronically ill people in creating our own work is our need for more time to complete work. My symptoms include chronic fatigue and cognitive dysfunction (brain fog). This means if I’m lucky if I manage about two to four hours of active work in a day. I use hours per day as a measure so people can compare to the average workday - which is 7.5 hours in the UK - but sometimes I can go weeks without being well enough to work. Many disabled, chronically ill and/or neurodivergent people feel the need to push through their symptoms to meet the demands of budgets and schedules. This leads to burnout, crashes, and flares,and ultimately projects get dropped and disabled art is lost.
This is an early issue that Joni and I have had to navigate in the creation of Chronic Violence. Sometimes we will have a work session booked in and one, or both of us will be very symptomatic. It has taken a lot of open and curious communication to find the balance between respecting each other’s limits, or finding accommodations and the flexibility to support each other with continuing to work. For a reflection on a different way of working I encourage everyone to watch Joni’s manifesto for her company Late to The Party.
Newsletter - April 17th 2024
3 Quick Accessible Social Media Tips
Social media is a great way to find new audiences but you only get one chance at a first impression. If your content is not accessible and inclusive of disabled people you are missing a huge demographic. Here are 3 quick tips to improve the accessibility of you social media posts:
1) Ditch the emojis - Screen readers read emojis out using their alt text description. Sometimes this can be a description, for example, ‘happy face emoji’, but sometimes it will be in code, for example, ‘colon, closed parentheses’. This can take a long time and confuse and distract from the message of the post. The easiest solution is to avoid emojis, but if you really feel it will add to your message, just use one, and put it at the end of the post.
2) Don’t use the alt text space for hashtags or extra content: The alt text space is for a description of any images you have used in your post. Describing the visual elements of your post in words ensures the person reading it has access to the same information as someone who can visually interpret it. The alt text space should only be used for this purpose.
3) Don’t use images as background: If you have text over an image, it can be hard for some people to read. The changing colour contrast between the text and the different colours in an image can make it difficult for many people to pick out the letters clearly.
My Creative Accessiblity Journey
In 2021 after years of feeling excluded from the arts as a chronically ill performer, I set up Create Access with my friend Erin Enfys (now the resident artist at the Brighton Dome). I am passionate about disability access, but I soon realised that I was neglecting my own need and desire to create work and tell stories.
The creation of my new show Chronic Violence (alongside another amazing friend Joni-Rae Carrack) gives me the opportunity to do both. Ever since I discovered the concept of creative accessibility, I have been eager to put it into practice and provide a practical roadmap for clients who want to learn. In this weekly newsletter I will share my experiences with creative accessibility, the challenges and successes, as well as some tips for you to add to your own practice.
So, what is creative accessibility? Creative accessibility involves building access into the heart of a show from its very beginning and makes it the responsibility of everyone involved in a show. This varies from traditional access provision in the arts where access features such as BSL interpretation or audio description for example are added on after the show has been created. Creative accessibility not only improves access for the cast, crew, and audience of a show, it also brings new and inventive ideas into the artistic process. Creative accessibility benefits everyone.